Nuke deal with US does not infringe on its sovereignty: Pranab

Varanasi, Sept 27 : External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said that a nuclear deal with the US will be bound by international conventions on bilateral treaties.

"As a sovereign country, when we enter into any agreement with a sovereign nation, it is guided by the law of treaty and for that there is a guiding principle, evolved over the years, Vienna Convention, and all other ways in which the international treaties are being governed," Mukherjee said on the sidelines of a seminar here yesterday.

The US-India civil nuclear cooperation agreement is awaiting a nod from the US House of Representatives where a key lawmaker embraced a bill on Thursday to end the three-decade ban on nuclear trade with India.

The legislation must be voted on by both houses of Congress, which is simultaneously striving to reach an agreement on a 700 billion dollar bailout package to save the US economy.

Members of Congress are also rushing to complete all other business in the next few days so that they can go home to campaign ahead of the November 4 election.

The congressional maneuvering over the agreement occurred as US Presidenteorge W. Bush met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the White House.

Bush, who wants to get the deal approved before he steps down on January 20, told Singh he hoped Congress would approve the civil nuclear agreement in a form satisfactory to India.

Singh echoed those sentiments, saying, "I know these are difficult issues," but hoped the Congress would approve the deal in a manner acceptable to both countries.